


i'll kiss you again between the bars

by gentlegoodknight



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 01:38:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5356124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlegoodknight/pseuds/gentlegoodknight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He finds a hoodie that Jamie had left at his place, and he puts it on before he goes to sleep. Jamie’s got this great body spray that is just so distinctly him, and seems to inhabit anything he’s ever worn. The scent relaxes Tyler better than a lullaby, and his mind drifts peacefully into a world of tattooed arms and gel-slicked hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll kiss you again between the bars

Tyler thinks he’s being watched. He’s never been a paranoid guy, and had always assumed there was a bubble of safety surrounding him. Maybe that line of thinking had gotten him into trouble a time or two, but that didn’t mean he was reckless. He was a two hundred pound professional athlete; he couldn’t think of anyone who really posed him a great threat. 

It’s late. The moon is a crescent in the sky, and Tyler’s got a nice high flowing through him. It’s been a good night, but there’s something that makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. There’s this feeling in the pit of his gut, and he fumbles with his keys for a long minute as he desperately tries to open the door. He could swear he hears heavy breathing (although later he’ll just write it off as being his own) as he finally manages to put his key into the lock and rip the door open. He shuts it behind himself briskly, locking it for good message. 

There’s a pause, and then he exhales. He goes to his windows to look out, Marshall and Cash running towards him in greeting. After a moment he closes his blinds, figuring he must be imagining things. It’s probably the weed still lingering in his system. 

Tyler lets it go. He lets his dogs outside, and then lets them back in. He strips down, drinks a glass of water, uses the bathroom, and then crawls in his much-too-empty bed. 

In his dreams, he hears a wolf howling. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

He goes to Jamie’s for lunch. It’s been a while since they’ve hung out, and Tyler doesn’t want to admit to the hole that punches into his life. Before Tyler had somehow fucked up, Jamie had been a regular staple in his life. He wonders what he’s done, and what he can do to fix it. 

He’s nervous on Jamie’s doorstep. Tyler’s never nervous; he’s calm and confidant, sure of himself and contained. Suddenly he wonders if he made the right choice in coming here. He debates going back home when the door finally opens.

It takes only a millisecond of soft brown eyes before Tyler’s fears melt away.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jamie’s food is still savoring upon his tongue when Tyler gets into his car to go home. His skin is buzzing, and he realizes that only Jamie can make him feel this way. 

When he gets home his front door is unlocked. It’s strange, because he could have sworn that he’d locked it when he left, but Tyler doesn’t make a big deal out of it. He’d probably just forgotten to do it in his eagerness to see Jamie. He enters the house and locks the door behind him, letting all worries fade away. 

Marshall and Cash don’t leave him alone for the entire night. Whenever one of them goes to look out of the window, the other stands firmly by Tyler’s side. When he goes to the bathroom, they whine and scratch outside of his door. Tyler just figures they’ve been locked inside for too long today, and makes a mental note to take them on a long run tomorrow to make up for it. 

He finds a hoodie that Jamie had left at his place, and he puts it on before he goes to sleep. Jamie’s got this great body spray that is just so distinctly him, and seems to inhabit anything he’s ever worn. The scent relaxes Tyler better than a lullaby, and his mind drifts into a world of tattooed arms and gel-slicked hair.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They’re out at a bar after a big win. Tyler is leaning into Jamie, the buzz of alcohol slowly intensifying within him. He’s not sloppy drunk yet, but he’s hardly the poster child for sobriety. Jamie, for the most part, seems content to indulge in Tyler’s drunken affection. He always is, but they haven’t been talking for a few months. Tyler feels like he needs to make up for lost time. 

He’s staring at Jamie quite a bit, watching as he drinks his beer, the way his throat contracts. Tyler looks away from him, attempting to scope out where the rest of the team is. When he looks back at Jamie, he finds that he’s leaning in close, a distinct sniffing noise coming from his nose. 

“Did you just sniff me, Chubbs?” he asks. Jamie freezes, and Tyler could swear that Jordie tenses right across from them. 

“You smell horrible. You should get a new cologne,” Jamie says, hands reaching up to ruffle through Tyler’s hair. Tyler frowns at the teasing, not letting himself think about how nice Jamie’s fingers feel in his hair, or how much nicer they would feel pressed between his own. 

“I don’t know man, I think it works just fine for Segs. I mean, he’s so dreamy,” Jason chirps as he sits down next to Jordie, a round of shots quickly being placed on the table in front of them. 

“Jamie just knows he can’t compete with it,” Tyler remarks, nudging Jamie slightly with his shoulder. Jamie shakes his head at him, but offers a snort of laughter. Tyler lets the whole situation slide away, thinking nothing over it as he downs a shot.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When he wakes up his head is spinning. Tyler always has moments where he swears it’ll be the last time he ever drinks, but this time he almost thinks that he means it. 

He walks into his living room and frowns, noticing a distinct absence of Cash or Marshall. Tyler spends a few minutes searching for them, calling their names few times before he finally hears playful barking and investigates. 

Marshall and Cash are playing outside, the door wide open. Tyler feels uneasy at the sight; he hadn’t thought that he was blackout, but apparently he’d been sloppy enough to leave his door open. They’re both busily sniffing around, probably tracing the scent of some cat that had wandered through their yard.

They look up when they see him, enthusiastically bounding over and offering a thousand kisses in greeting. 

He lets the dogs in and then locks his door.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They have five days off, and while practice and workouts stand between now and their next game, it means that they can enjoy themselves a little bit. So Tyler has the team come over for a casual get together. He likes it when the team comes over, likes making his home open to the people he cares about. He’s always had this thing for collecting people around him, for crafting a home in the presence of others rather than in a specific place. 

Jamie seems on edge the entire night. Tyler worries he’s done something wrong again. He doesn’t say anything, though. He plays beer pong with Jason (they beat Jordie and Kevin fairly, no matter how much Jordie insists Jason was somehow cheating), catches up with the rookies, cuts off Janmark before he engages in a drinking contest with Nuke that he’ll most certainly lose, and feels more relaxed than he has felt in weeks.

Eventually everyone clears out until it’s just him and Jamie. They decide to watch a recording of one of their games, talking through effective plays and missed opportunities alike. 

Tyler doesn’t know when he stopped watching the film and just started watching Jamie instead. 

Jamie turns toward him, seeming to sense that the conversation has faded. Tyler doesn’t know what to make of his expression. It’s thoughtful, and there’s this glint in his eyes that is beyond interpretation. 

He doesn’t know who makes the first move. All he knows is that suddenly he’s kissing Jamie Benn, and suddenly everything within him seems to come alive. 

His first thought, when the shock fades, is that Jamie is actually a great kisser. He’s firm and gentle, enthusiastic and far from overly technical. Tyler tangles his fingers into Jamie’s hair, pulling him deeper into a kiss.

Jamie parts from him, panting heavily as he starts to press kisses down Tyler’s neck. It feels like there’s an electric storm brewing on the surface of his skin wherever Jamie touches. 

He’s not expecting the bite on his neck. It’s painful, but not overwhelming; certainly strong enough to both leave a mark and make Tyler yelp in surprise. Jamie pulls back quickly, panting and looking away, as if he’s filled with shame. He stands up as if he’s being pulled back, and Tyler feels the absence of his warmth deep in his bones. 

“I- I have to go,” Jamie stammers, his eyes as wide as his lips are swollen. Tyler doesn’t understand, and he’s too confused to do anything but watch as Jamie leaves the door open on his way out. 

He moves to the door eventually, shutting it, locking it, and letting everything fade away. He doesn’t think about the pulsing in his neck, the way his lips feel sore and pleasant at the same time, and the way he can’t get Jamie’s taste out of his mouth.

 

He goes to bed when his neck stops tingling. Tyler crawls beneath his sheets, pulls on Jamie’s hoodie, and lets the scent soothe him. Thoughts fill his brain, ones that he lets exit his mind as soon as they enter without truly entertaining them. 

He swears that he can still smell Jamie all around him, that he can still taste him on his tongue. At first he can’t sleep, but eventually he calls in Marshall and Cash and lets them get up onto his bed. He knows it’s bad for them to sleep next to him, but he needs their stability and their warmth. 

He can’t help but think that he’d give almost anything for it to be Jamie’s warmth pressed against him right now.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He wakes to a sound that can only be described as screaming. Tyler jolts out of bed, fear settling harshly in his gut as he notices Marshall and Cash are both missing from not only his bed, but also his room. His bedroom door is open, and it hadn’t been when he’d gone to sleep. 

Tyler doesn’t think about it. He just stumbles out of bed, heading downstairs towards the source of the noise. He isn’t sure what he thinks is happening, but he hates the sound of it. 

The back door is open, and he doesn’t think twice before he heads through it. Outside Marshall is pinned on his back, with big hulking thing on top of him. Tyler feels his heart sink, noticing Cash standing close by. The black dog comes running over to him. Cash is screaming and trembling, but he stands between Tyler and the beast and refuses to get behind him. 

The best seems to sense the arrival of another presence, looking up at Tyler and locking its red gaze upon him. The creature is nothing Tyler has ever seen before; it’s got the face of a wolf on steroids, while its body is closer to that of a bear’s. It’s easily twice Tyler’s size, at least in the department of weight and muscle mass. 

It looks directly into Tyler’s eyes, and he feels his heart sink as it starts to move towards him. Everything that comes next happens too fast for him to really analyze.

He hears a yelp, but he’s not sure if it’s from Cash or himself. He’s pinned beneath the thing, head colliding painfully with the ground as he finds himself with no escape. He feels a snout shoved into the side of his neck, claws tearing through Jamie’s hoodie and into the flesh of Tyler’s chest. 

It growls, and Tyler struggles. That only seems to enrage the beast, the growling growing louder as sharp teeth suddenly bite into his shoulder. Tyler doesn’t hold back his screams. 

His fight instinct kicks in, and he shoves his fingers into one of the creature’s bloody eyes. It releases its grip on him, howling in pain and giving Tyler just enough room to get to his feet. He clutches his bloody shoulder and starts to run as his instinct for flight kicks in.

He gets maybe two steps before he feels pain erupting in one of his legs, the creatures jaws latched into it in a vice grip. Tyler feels hot pain erupting up his leg as the beast shakes its mighty head, something definitely snapping between its powerful jaws. He screams once more as the beast releases and drags him to the ground again.

Tyler is pinned one more. He kicks out with his good leg, aiming for the soft underbelly of the beast. He connects solidly, unsure how he’s supposed to get away now, but trying anyways. 

It yelps and steps backwards again, but before Tyler can even attempt to get to his feet it bites into the upper thigh of his already injured leg. Fangs press deep and then shake before finally releasing. Tyler feels blood begin to gratuitously spurt down his torn jeans. Everything starts to fade quickly; speckles of white begin to flutter into the edges of his sight, reality slipping from his grasp.

The thing stands over him again, and Tyler thinks that this must be the end. He closes his eyes, wishing now more than anything that he could have Jamie with him. He’s so fucking scared, and he doesn’t want to die. He wants to play beautiful hockey and watching Marshall get old and hold Jamie Benn’s hand. 

The monster retreats without any notice or apparent reason, but Tyler is too weak to be able to move for help. 

He’s cold and alone, until he feels a wet nose pressing into his cheek. Warm fur presses against both of his sides, tongues lapping eagerly at blood. At the very least he’s at peace with the fact that Marshall and Cash are okay. He thinks that he hears the sound of a fight somewhere nearby, and he worries the beast is going to come back, that it’ll come back and kill his dogs when they’ve already been so brave for him. 

“Jamie,” he calls out weakly. He wants to scream it, as if it would summon him. He wants to feel his strength right now, wants to make him promise that Marshall and Cash will be alright. He wants Jamie to tell him that he’ll be alright. 

He’s not sure if it’s reality or hallucinations induced from his blood loss, but Tyler could swear that he feels a familiar pair of arms wrapping around him. He could swear that he feels wet tears dripping onto his face. He could swear that he feels apologies and kisses pressed into his skin in equal measure. He just lets himself feel (or lets himself pretend to feel). 

Even if it’s imaginary, Tyler thinks he’s never felt more at peace than he has when he’s with Jamie. 

He looks upward and lets his eyes focus, and he notices how great fake-Jamie’s face is. He wants to run a hand through his hair, wants to pull him in and inhale his smell for one last time. Jamie’s face is wet with tears, his eyes are bloodshot, his hair is messy and matted with mud and dirt, his nose is oozing snot and blood, and he’s still the most perfect human being Tyler’s ever seen.

“Seggy, you have to stay awake. Tyler, Ty-“ he hears. 

“Love you, Jamie,” he says softly. 

He hears the rustling wind open and close the screen door, hears the soft pulse of Jamie’s heart, and hears the faint calling of a bird rising with the crack of dawn. He finds peace in all of these things, his senses slowly dulling one by one.

The last thing he feels is the warmth of Jamie against his body, and the soft press of long fur beneath him as he feels as if he’s being lifted and carried away. The last thing is smells is Jamie’s body spray, still clinging to the torn hoody on Tyler’s broken body.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is mostly un-edited, and written for the sole purpose of getting myself to write again. The plot is roughly diagramed out, and updates will likely be sporadic. My goal is to get this entirely uploaded by the end of December, however. 
> 
> As for warnings, there will be some dealings with someone being forced to do things they do not wish to do (nothing sexual; all sexual content within this story will be entirely consensual). There is copious violence within this story, as well as explicit language.


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